The sky looked gloomy, and then the rain poured down heavily.

So the twelve-year-old Ibi, who ended up looking like a drowned rat, glared at the innocent astrologer who had come to pick her up.

“It’s raining a lot. Wouldn’t it be better to go home?”

“I don’t think that place is home.”

“Alright, let’s get out of the rain first.”

Despite Ibi’s sharp retort, the astrologer smiled and draped the edge of his robe over Ibi’s head. Despite his effort to block the rain, for some reason Ibi’s eyes filled with even more dissatisfaction.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

As Ibi stubbornly resisted, the astrologer brushed her wet cheek with the back of his hand. Only then did Ibi admit it. That she had failed to run away again today.

The sound of raindrops hitting leaves was loud.

The path had already turned to mud, leaving nowhere to step. The path Ibi had chosen for her escape was, of all places, the densest forest in the area, and the sky full of rain clouds was growing darker.

In the heavy rain, the astrologer picked up Ibi with one arm. Then he began to stride forward, pushing through the bushes.

“Let’s wait there until the rain stops.”

What the astrologer pointed to was a cabin visible through the dense trees.

Ibi frowned sullenly, covered by the edge of the astrologer’s robe.

The cabin looked clean, as if it had been used recently. So it was obvious it would be locked, but the astrologer moved forward without hesitation.

Sure enough, the cabin door was firmly locked. But the astrologer casually ripped the door open with a crunch.

Ibi let out a surprised squeak. However, the astrologer, still pretending to be a gentle person, crossed the cabin. Then he sat Ibi down, wiped her wet hair, wrapped her tightly in a blanket, and lit the fireplace.

“Is it okay to use someone else’s house like this?”

“Yes, I’ll compensate for it.”

The astrologer remained calm despite Ibi’s protest. Then he took out a sandwich and handed it to Ibi, who must be hungry.

Forgetting her surprise at this extreme care, Ibi frowned with a sense of defeat.

This isn’t right, this is wrong.

Ibi urged herself with an uncomfortable feeling. It was because of the clear changes that had recently happened to her.

‘Sleeping on the street has become uncomfortable. I can’t stand being cold or hungry anymore. I’ve become incompetent. It’s all because of that man…!’

Ibi glared at the astrologer again, blaming her laziness and weakness on him. But the astrologer just tilted his head innocently.

She felt self-loathing. It felt like she should leave immediately. But the sandwich made by Aunt Marso was so delicious that she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

So Ibi munched on the sandwich and stared blankly at the astrologer again.

He was just as soaked by the rain, but he sat in a chair watching Ibi while still wearing his dripping robe.

“Mister.”

“What?”

“Are you going to eat me when I get fat?”

“No.”

“Then are you going to raise me and sell me?”

“No.”

“Then are you going to rape me, kill me, and bury me in the forest?”

“Ra…”

The astrologer groaned as if horrified by Ibi’s violent questions. Then he spoke as if coaxing the child who was balled up with wariness.

“No, I won’t do anything you don’t like. I promise. I will never do anything bad to you.”

“Why are you making such a promise to me?”

But Ibi was only confused. So she asked sorrowfully, as if she had been bullied:

“You don’t need to. There’s nothing to gain from it. Why are you doing this to me?”

A month ago, Ibi was almost dragged away by a gang in the back alley.

The astrologer saved her. Not only did he save her, but he took her home, cared for her, and treated her.

When Ibi started living in that unfamiliar two-story house, she was dazed for a while. Due to her severe injuries, and because she was so shocked, she was out of it for almost a week.

But with the astrologer’s careful care and Mrs. Marso’s attentive devotion, Ibi gradually recovered, and one day she suddenly came to her senses. Then she immediately left that house.

Not because she was uncomfortable, but because she was anxious, feeling like she shouldn’t be there.

There’s no such thing as something for nothing in this world. All good things are bait, and there’s always a trap behind them.

At least that’s how it was in Ibi’s world. The place where Ibi was born and raised was a world where you couldn’t survive unless you distrusted this fiercely.

So as soon as she came to her senses, she left that house, but Ibi’s escape soon failed. It was because of the astrologer who came when Ibi was tired from walking.

He took Ibi home, saying, “Just stay until your legs are fully healed.” So when she left the house again a few days later, he persuaded her back, saying, “You still have a fever.” It was the same the next time, and the time after that.

He coaxed her, saying, “Just rest a few more days,” “It’s almost the new moon.” So Ibi reluctantly followed the astrologer each time.

Several weeks passed like that, and before she knew it, it had been a month since Ibi started living in that two-story house.

During that time, the bad things Ibi had anticipated still hadn’t happened. So Ibi was even more anxious. She felt like she might suffocate to death in this cozy and distant place without even realizing it.

“What do you want from me?”

“I don’t particularly want anything.”

“Is this just a joke? Are you just playing around?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then am I some precious child? Am I your younger sister?”

“Um, it’s not that either.”

“If it’s none of those things, then why are you doing this to me?”

Ibi asked like that, soaked to the bone, wrapped in a blanket, and clutching the sandwich tightly with both hands.

The astrologer silently looked at Ibi like that, and finally answered.

“Just because I saw you.”

His words were concise.

“There’s no deep meaning. I just noticed you.”

It was also simple to the point of being disappointing.

So Ibi’s head was once again filled with question marks. As Ibi was about to ask what that meant, the astrologer spoke first.

“This world isn’t that perfect.”

“Perfect?”

“Not everything follows rules. Some things happen for no reason at all, thankfully.”

“…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“It means that what you expect might not happen. The world isn’t perfect enough to always fulfill your expectations.”

Ibi shook her head in dissatisfaction at the astrologer’s puzzling words.

“What did I expect? I don’t expect anything.”

“Really?”

The astrologer smiled and leaned forward. He lowered his body as if trying to meet Ibi’s eyes and whispered like this:

“You’re expecting me to be a bad person.”

Ibi’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

Ibi looked at the astrologer with a surprised face.

At the same time, she slowly realized. The expectation she had been holding as naturally as breathing, just as he said.

It was being betrayed. The person pretending to be kind revealing their true colors. The sweet bait turning into a trap and a noose.

And then cynically feeling reassured, thinking, “I knew it,” at the harsh face of this cruel world.

Ibi had always been expecting these things. Without even realizing it herself.

“I…”

Ibi trailed off, trying to make excuses without thinking.

Along with the realization, she suddenly felt scared. It was frightening that someone else had noticed a thought she wasn’t even aware of herself. Somehow it felt like she would be punished.

So as Ibi hesitated and shrank back, the astrologer suddenly laughed lightly and said:

“Actually, I heard this from someone else.”

“Huh?”

“It’s something someone I know told me.”

“To you…?”

When Ibi asked dazedly, the astrologer nodded. So Ibi blinked blankly and then mumbled quietly:

“I don’t really understand, but that person seems really strange.”

At that, the astrologer burst out laughing. Ibi was startled once again at the sound. It was the first time she had seen the gentle astrologer laugh so loudly in front of her.

“You’re right, they’re probably the strangest person in the world.”

The astrologer’s voice sounded strangely joyful. It was like the voice of someone recalling a very close person, perhaps a precious person.

So Ibi forgot her momentary trembling and took a big bite of her sandwich, feeling annoyed.

“Why are you saying what a strange person said? You’re just as strange, mister.”

Ibi grumbled like that, shaking off her remaining tension.

The sound of rain continued. The firewood crackled and burned, and Ibi, buried in the warm blanket, soon felt her eyes growing heavy.

Even as she felt drowsiness washing over her, Ibi secretly pondered the astrologer’s words.

For some reason, the words that this world isn’t perfect stuck in her mind.

To Ibi, the world was strange but inevitable. But the words “not perfect” caused a crack in Ibi’s world.

If this world isn’t perfect, as the astrologer said, or rather, as the unknown strange person said, and if what I expect isn’t always a given…

Wouldn’t it be okay to believe a little?

Ibi, who had been nodding off, finally dropped her head. Then the astrologer came over and picked her up.

As Ibi gasped in surprise, the astrologer whispered:

“It’s okay, just sleep.”

It was a kind voice. A voice that Ibi could no longer reject or push away. She finally closed her eyes in resignation. And then she fell asleep just like that.

.

.

.

Eight years after learning how to rely on expectations, Ibi Ariate, who had nevertheless returned to the conclusion that humans are not to be relied upon, was braiding her hair in front of the mirror.

Morning had dawned.

For Ibi, who had beaten up Marquis Montra the night before, today was as important as a battle.

So with the intention of pulling herself together, she braided her hair and tied a sky-blue ribbon tightly, but in reality, Ibi’s mind was elsewhere.

―It’s okay, just sleep.

A voice, whose owner she couldn’t identify, flashed through her mind.

At dawn, the Count, who had surprised Ibi with a too-familiar voice, had ended up carrying her to her room.

He laid Ibi, who was pretending to be asleep, on the bed, adjusted her pillow, and even covered her with a blanket. Then he let out a sigh and left.

So Ibi, left alone in the room, spent the night wide awake in bewilderment.

‘How could he do that?’

All sorts of speculations swirled in Ibi’s mind.

‘Surely not…’

Ibi laughed at her own idea, thinking it was absurd. But that laughter didn’t last long.

This is Tiendabis. The floating continent where order and chaos coexist. In this imperfect world, nothing is impossible. There is only the will that it is unnecessary.

As her thoughts reached that point, Ibi’s heart sank.

At the same time, she recalled the Count’s appearance last night.

The moment he approached with the moon at his back was vivid. Although he fortunately only returned with the wine bottle, Ibi couldn’t help but be surprised, whether it was intentional or coincidental.

Sion Laurel is such an insensitive and rude person. He is also arrogant and self-righteous, with his physical and emotional temperatures inversely proportional.

But could such a person possibly…

‘No, I don’t like it, don’t do it!’

Ibi hastily shook her head. Then she crumpled up this uncomfortable idea and threw it somewhere in her mind.

Besides, now is not the time for this. Ibi, who had to go out to the battlefield right away, slapped both her cheeks.

Then she gathered her thoughts again and left the room with a more determined face than ever.

As she came out into the corridor, she felt various gazes. But Ibi ignored them and moved on.

Finally arriving at the luxurious reception room, Ibi gracefully bent her knees.

“Did you sleep well last night?”

Ibi smiled and greeted the man sitting across from her.

“You called me earlier than I expected, Marquis Montra.”

Then Cassel Montra, whose eyes were dead black, began to glare at Ibi more fiercely.